Chef's Choice Model 130 Professional Sharpening Station

Just purchased a Chef's Choice Model 130 Professional Sharpening Station for my restaurant, even though it's not meant for commercial use. The commercial model costs over 500, so I had to try this one for myself to justify the cost. We have 20 knives in house, and for the past 15 years have had a commercial sharpening service replace our knives every week. (A cost of $50 per week) It's easy to use, by the second knife, I had the feel for the machine. As a chef, I can choose between the second stage (honing steel) or manualy steel it using my own (which I prefer because that's how I've always done it) but both ways I can put a nice straight edge regardless. We'll see how long the M130 lasts in my kitchen, I may move up to the commercial one, but I have to say, the M130, it's done a super job so far.

This is a heavy little device about the size (and weight) of a brick. In essence there are three pairs of V-angled slots through which you pull the knife to be sharpened. Starting with the left-most pair, these are used for initial sharpening or major re-sharpening and the knife is pulled through each slot in turn against a revolving grindstone to give a reasonably sharp edge.

The middle pair are the most used pair and the knife is again pulled through but this time against a static 'steel' to give a (very) sharp edge such as would be obtained using a conventional steel. The built in 'steel' can be revolved to another of its 28 faces should it become worn. No electricity required for this stage.

The third pair of slots work in the same way as the first pair but use much finer revolving grindstones to polish the edge. This stage can be applied to knives sharpened using just the first stage or after both first and second stages have been completed.

If all this sounds complicated, it does take a bit of getting used to and the manual supplied is comprehensive - even if you do have to read it 2 or 3 three times to understand the principles involved. At the end of the day, the device works well and is the fastest way I have found to get seriously sharp knives quickly. Not cheap however, £95.